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POLITICO 44

The Justice Department has opened civil and criminal investigations into the events that led to the continuing BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday.

“The first and foremost goal of the entire government is stopping the leak, containing and cleaning up the oil, and helping the people in this region get back on their feet and return to their normal lives,” Holder told a news conference in New Orleans, according to a text of his prepared remarks. “But as we have said all along, we must also ensure that anyone found responsible for this spill is held accountable. That means enforcing the appropriate civil — and if warranted, criminal — authorities to the full extent of the law.”

Holder also suggested that a serious federal investigation was merited into the deaths of workers aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig when an explosion apparently fed by the blowout took place on April 22.

“There is one thing I will not let be forgotten in this incident: In addition to the extensive costs being borne by our environment and by communities along the Gulf Coast, the initial explosion and fire also took the lives of 11 rig workers. Eleven innocent lives lost,” Holder said. “We will prosecute to the full extent any violations of the law.”

Earlier Tuesday, President Barack Obama warned that the federal government would prosecute anyone found to have violated the law in connection with the spill.

“If our laws were broken, leading to this death and destruction, my solemn pledge is that we will bring those responsible to justice on behalf of the victims of this catastrophe and the people of the Gulf region,” Obama said in the Rose Garden after a meeting with the co-chairmen of a commission he named to look into the spill and the future of drilling off U.S. coasts.

The talk of legal action from Obama and Holder came as the White House launched a new offensive Tuesday aimed at convincing Americans that the federal government is responding aggressively to the continuing oil spill in the Gulf.

In his appearance earlier Tuesday, Obama pledged that the blue-ribbon commission, to be headed by former Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.) and former Environmental Protection Agency chief William Reilly, would get to the bottom of what caused the blowout.

“In doing this work, they have my full support to follow the facts wherever they may lead, without fear or favor. And I am directing them to report back in six months with options for how we can prevent and mitigate the impact of any future spills that result from offshore drilling,” the president said.

The effort to quickly find out what happened and the effort to prosecute any crimes that were committed could be at odds. At least one BP official, rig manager Robert Kaluza, took the Fifth Amendment last week to avoid testifying at a government hearing into the disaster. It’s possible that more rumblings about potential criminal prosecutions could prompt more of those involved to invoke their right to remain silent.

In addition, the commission Obama named lacks subpoena power, though it may be able to get information subpoenaed by other government agencies.

The most incompetent president in US history ... not even a close second … and we still don't know where Bozobama was born. In comparison, Bozobama makes Billy Bob look like an honest man and Jimmy Earl look like a competent patriot. all

I fully expect that both Federal and State law enforcement agencies will prosecute those who have committed a crime. But I sure hate when the President's focus is on that rather than working as effectively as possible to stop the leaking well, contain the oil both on top and below the surface and protect, as well as clean up the shoreline including the marshes, etc. It seems to me that the administration is running around in circles. Why not work in cooperation with BP, as the coast gurad commanders have been doing and deal with criminal liability once things have stabilized? Why not calm the public, rather than inflaming it further. I can't imagine anyone at BP rejoicing about the damage the leaking oil well is doing or not trying their best to try to mitigate the damage. I understand the anger, I am pretty angry about what has been going on as well. But, as the leaders of the nation, the President and other members of his administration should be trying to lower the justifiable anger, show much more emphaty to the folks in pain, but without further inflaming the anger.

Environmentalists are still fuming over the fact that President Barack Obama ignored warnings from NOAA about major spills from offshore rigs before he opened up the East Coast to drilling. Now, it turns out that the Administration exempted BP from doing an environmental impact statement and accepted dismissive accounts regarding the potential for spills.

The Interior Department under Secretary Ken Salazar exempted BP’s Gulf of Mexico drilling operation from a detailed environmental impact analysis last year. That decision was made by the Minerals Management Service (MMS), which has been clouded in scandals involving corruption and close ties to industry. Environmentalists strongly opposed Ken Salazar because of his own close ties to drilling interests and generally poor environmental voting record.

Yet, the criticism of Obama in the aftermath of this tragedy has been quite modest. One can only imagine the outcry if President Bush opened up the East Coast to drilling, said that rigs do not cause spills (here), disregarded warnings about such spills from his own agency (here), and waived an environmental impact study based on the industry’s assurance. On top of that, Obama has been the largest recipient of BP campaign money (here). No one expects the President to follow waivers of impact studies — that is Salazar’s job. However, once again, the muted criticism from liberals is striking.

The MMS itself is often ridiculed as a rubber stamp. In this case, it lived up to its reputation. In one assessment, it stated that “a large oil spill” from a platform would not exceed a total of 1,500 barrels and that a spill “offshore of the inner Continental shelf,” would not reach the coast. In another assessment, it defined the most likely large spill as totaling no more than 4,600 barrels and, in a Limbaugh-like assessment, insisted that nature would take care of much of the problem.

Notably, the Administration is only willing to pause on its plan to open up the East Coast to drilling — not reverse its policy.

This empty suit cares more about who are we going to blame/sue than stopping the leak. I can imagine the Oval Office chat this morning.... "Hmmm, we have hundreds of thousands of oil leaking into the Gulf and who should we send........... The Attorney General Eric "we are a nation of cowards" Holder"....

Watch it guys. Another attempt to divert attention from the most inept and unprincipled administration ever. Back to Chicago and Acorn for him and the thugs he brought with him as soon as possible. It is truly scary though that there were enough lame brains around to elect him AND an all DEMOCRAT congress. Maybe this will have sharpened some of us up.

“We've authorized more than 17,000 National Guard members to respond across four states. More than 1,700 vessels are currently aiding in the response and will ensure that any and all responsible means of containing this leak are pursued as we await the completion of the two relief wells,” President Obama said

Cleaning up the continuing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico is a huge job.

Cleaning up the Minerals and Management Services Agency after years of cozy crony relationships with the oil industry is even more essential.